Batteries NOT included!

April 14, 2014 by nvantreeck

NASA doesn’t want to rely solely on batteries for its future space missions. So, the agency is seeking proposals for the development of new, more capable, energy storage technologies to replace the battery technology currently used.

“NASA is focusing on creating new advanced technologies that could lead to entirely new approaches for the energy needs of the agency’s future Earth and space missions,” said Michael Gazarik, associate administrator for space technology at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “Over the next 18 months, NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate will make significant new investments that address several high priority challenges for achieving safe and affordable deep-space exploration. One of these challenges, advanced energy storage, offers new technology solutions that will address exploration and science needs while adding in an important and substantive way to America’s innovation economy.”

NASA’s is looking into two categories for the future power sources: cell chemistry and system level battery technologies, such as packaging and cell integration; and energy storage technologies that can go beyond the current theoretical limits of Lithium batteries while maintaining the cycle life and safety characteristics demanded of energy storage systems used in space applications.

NASA intends to make four awards for Phase I of the research up to $250,000 each.

As has happened in the past, space exploration may led to better power for everyone.

– Ex astris, scientia –

I am and avid amateur astronomer and intellectual property attorney in Pasadena, California and I am a Rising Star as rated by Super Lawyers Magazine. As a former Chief Petty Officer in the U.S. Navy, I am a proud member of the Armed Service Committee of the Los Angeles County Bar Association working to aid all active duty and veterans in our communities. Connect with me on Google +

Norman

Missed Me By That Much!

April 11, 2014 by nvantreeck

Ok, after watching this video, this has to be the luckiest guy in the world for two reasons.

1. He’s the first person to catch a flamed out meteorite in mid-air barely missing him; and

2. he’s the first person to catch a flamed out meteorite in mid-air barely missing him.

Anders Helstrup - Anders Helstrup in his wing suit. - Foto: Roger Myren / NRK

The lucky Norwegian skydiver is Anders Helstrup. He was just out for typical jump in his wing-suit in 2012 when the meteorite went by him. He and many other people have spent the last couple of years of hunting in the woods, marshes and muck to find the meteorite. Alas, it still remains at large.

Geologists believe that the meteorite had been part of a larger meteor that exploded about 20 kilometres above Helstrup during his jump (see number 1 above). They also believe that it is a fairly ordinary Breccia meteorite. However, due to the filming during flight, the meteorite has increased in value greatly. I’m not sure what Mr. Helstrup plans to do with the meteorite if he finds it, but all indications are that he would give it to the Natural History Museum in Oslo.

– Ex astris, scientia –

Norman

The BOSS Does A Speed Check.

April 10, 2014 by nvantreeck

The Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS) has just completed the most accurate speed check of the early Universe.

The measurements show that the early Universe was expanding about 1% every 44 million years. Although that doesn’t seem like much, I can tell you from my own, personal, expansion of 1% over the last 10 years or so that it adds up (dang, I need to diet again)!

Baryon acoustic oscillations (BAO) refers to regular, periodic fluctuations in the density of the visible baryonic matter (a composite subatomic particle made up of three quarks) of the universe. BAO matter is used as a “standard ruler” for determining lengths in cosmology. The length of this standard ruler (~490 million light years in today’s universe) is measured by looking at the large scale structure of matter using astronomical surveys.

Whew, in other words, scientists can measure the distances from the early Universe to today. Once you know the distances, and the time, you have the speed. Simple right?

So why is this important? It turns out that at the beginning dark matter was pushing everything apart, but now dark energy is moving everything apart. By finding out when/why this happened, scientists may be closer to finding out exactly what they both are and how to measure/detect/observe them both. By the way, that little sliver of atomic matter is every star, planet, asteroid, meteor and dust particle in the Universe.

– Ex astris, scientia –

Norman

Yet Another Zero G Day Ruse.

April 9, 2014 by nvantreeck

Please stop, stop, please…help me out people…stop the madness.

According to ‘experts’ on the Internet, the alignment of some of the planets, the Moon, Mars, and Pluto is going to cause gravity to cease on Earth for a few seconds.

Say it isn’t so. Ok. It isn’t so. Let’s just take a look at the facts shall we? The graph above only lists Jupiter and Saturn because the rest of the planets combined don’t amount to a gnat’s ass of mass in the solar system. It is really impossible for the planets in the solar system to counteract the gravity well of the Sun. If that were the case, we would have flown out of our orbit aeons ago and no life would have every happened here.

So far this year, the end of the world was scheduled on January 4th, April 4th, and the next prediction is for May 4th. Honestly, someday the doomsday predictions will come true, about 4 billion years from now. But until that time, you can tell your friendly neighborhood Niburu believer/doomsdayer/ender that it isn’t happening anytime soon.

– Ex astris, scientia –

Norman

Blood Moon Rising.

April 8, 2014 by nvantreeck

As I said yesterday, April is going to be a busy month.

April 14-15 (depending on where in the world you are Carmen San Diego), a total lunar eclipse will be visible in the Pacific Ocean region, including Australia, as well as North and South America.

It will be the first of two total lunar eclipses in 2014, and the first of a tetrad (four total lunar eclipses in series), the other total eclipses will occur on October 8, April 8, 2015, and September 28, 2015.

Once the Moon is in total eclipse, it looks red. Hence the name Blood Moon. However, this is normally how the Moon looks in total eclipse, so it doesn’t have anything to do with the doomsday prophecies running around the Internet. Unfortunately, April has another doomsday prediction that I will discuss tomorrow.

Astronomy: Roen Kelly

What makes this total eclipse even more event worthy is the fact that Mars will appear right next to the Moon during its eclipse and should be spectacular as Mars is just coming out of its opposition with the Earth.

Time to break out the cameras or cellphone and take some images. I will try to make some instructions for taking images of the Moon that should help anyone interested.

– Ex astris, scientia –

Norman

A Martian Lineup.

April 7, 2014 by nvantreeck

April is going to be an interesting month, astronomically speaking.

Mars will be in alignment with the Earth tomorrow, April 8th. Commonly referred to as an opposition, the Sun, Earth and Mars will all be aligned, with the Earth between the Sun and Mars.

So for all you planetary imagers out there, this will be the best time to get images of our red neighbor. Or you can watch from the comfort of you desk here.

Astronomy: Roen Kelly

A few days later, Mars and Earth will be at their closest point to one another on April 14th. This will give you other opportunities to really see Mars.

Because of orbital differences, this type of opposition only occurs every couple of years, so you should take advantage of it. Other good things are happening in April, an one not so good hoax. All will be revealed as night falls.

– Ex astris, scientia –

Norman

NASA – We Found The Fat One!

April 4, 2014 by nvantreeck

El Gordo, the fat one, was finally captured by NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope.

Image Credit: NASA, ESA, and J. Jee (University of California, Davis)

A galaxy cluster skirting the edge of the Universe 9.7 billion light-years away, El Gordo has attempted to evade capture, measurement and having its mug shot taken since it was first detected in January 2012.

Authorities at NASA credit the capture to a variety of informants including Chandra X-ray Observatory and the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope array in Paranal, Chile.

Due to El Gordo’s massive weight, about 3 million billion times the mass of our sun, it couldn’t escape scientific detectives for long. By measuring how much El Gordo’s gravity warps images of galaxies in the distant background, a team of astronomical flatfoots calculated the cluster’s mass.

But El Gordo isn’t a solo act. Science gumshoes had information that El Gordo was the result of a titanic collision between a pair of galaxy clusters — an event described as two cosmic cannonballs hitting each other.

So this is the end for El Gordo…for now. Strange occurrences in the area have detectives ever vigilant for more clues to find the big bosses, the king pins of cosmic crimes against the Universe…dark matter and dark energy. Stay tuned.

– Ex astris, scientia –

Norman

Ready To Land.

April 3, 2014 by nvantreeck

http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-26790833

– Ex astris, scientia –

Norman

A Distant Dwarf.

April 2, 2014 by nvantreeck

Scientists have identified a new dwarf planet in the distant reaches of our Solar System. No, it isn’t Niburu.

Called 2012 VP113, it is about 450km across and is very likely icy in composition.

To date, Sedna is the only one other such object has been seen orbiting beyond the major planets in its region of space referred to as the inner Oort Cloud.

But researchers believe there are hundreds more such objects awaiting detection.

The observations of 2012 VP113 are reported in the journal Nature, and show that it has an orbit about 12 billion kilometres from the Sun at perihelion, and 67 billion km at apogee. With that orbit 2012 VP113 takes 4,000 years to go around the Sun.

This and many other objects will be found in the Oort Cloud as technology progresses, but for now that region is very difficult to study.

Next year will be our first up close study of the Kuiper belt as New Horizons speeds by Pluto, yes, the planet Pluto.

– Ex astris, scientia –

Norman

Honey, I Shrunk the Planet.

April 1, 2014 by nvantreeck

Mercury, the smallest planet in the inner Solar System (yes, damn it, Pluto is still a planet!) and is getting smaller.

Despite being so close to the Sun at 35,980,000 miles (57,910,000 km), the planet has cooled. Today it is about 3 miles (7 km) smaller than when it first formed about four billion years ago.

Scientists first spotted cracking and wrinkling indicating the shrinkage from Mariner 10 probe images in the mid-1970s.

New images from the Messenger spacecraft have provided new data that helped scientist more accurately determine the amount of shrinkage.

Long scars, called lobate scarps, on the planet’s surface show where rock had been thrust up as the planet shrunk. The lobate scarps can be hundreds of miles long and thousands of feet high.

This new estimate of Mercury’s shrinkage was made possible by Messanger imaging the entire planet. Previously Mariner 10 only manage about 45% of the planet’s surface. The addition of better cameras and sensors also helped.

So the obvious question would be: Is the Earth shrinking? Not so much compared to Mercury. The Earth has a bunch of tectonic plates, where Mercury only has one. The mountains on Earth are caused by plate interaction, whereas the mountains on Mercury are caused by shrinkage. So no worries that you planet will not fit in the morning after dining on comets and other space dust.

– Ex astris, scientia –

Norman

Astronomy and Law

Astronomy and Law Blog

Charon: Moon of Pluto

Monthly Archives: April 2014

Batteries NOT included!

Missed Me By That Much!

The BOSS Does A Speed Check.

Yet Another Zero G Day Ruse.

Blood Moon Rising.

A Martian Lineup.

NASA – We Found The Fat One!

Ready To Land.

A Distant Dwarf.

Honey, I Shrunk the Planet.